The first Arctic LNG 2 LNG train mounted on a gravity-based structure (GBS) was recently installed on a seabed foundation at the Utrenniy Terminal on the Gydan Peninsula.
This marked the first phase of NOVATEK’s large-scale Arctic LNG 2 plant construction.
The LNG process train, capable of producing 6.6 mill tonnes of LNG per annum, will be hooked up to onshore upstream facilities to complete its commissioning and will then commence liquefaction operations.
It was towed by sea from the LNG construction centre in the Murmansk Region to the Gydan Peninsula and was installed on the foundation built on the seabed near the shore.
The towing operation took 22 days to complete. The 330 m long, 152 m wide and 90 m high platform weighs 640,000 tonnes and is claimed to be the heaviest object ever moved in the history of the global LNG industry.
The train consists of topside modules with equipment fitted to produce and offload LNG and stable gas condensate. The equipment is installed on a concrete GBS, which houses the LNG and condensate storage tanks.
“We passed an important milestone in the Arctic LNG 2 project having completed the marine towing of the LNG train, fully assembled at the LNG construction centre, and its installation at the Utrenniy Terminal,” said Leonid Mikhelson, NOVATEK’s Chairman of the Management Board.
“The innovative GBS-based construction concept allows us to put new LNG facilities into operation faster and with lower capital expenditures. Our LNG construction centre in the Murmansk Region offers a unique advantage of series LNG train fabrication.
“We are now at an advanced stage of building the Arctic LNG 2 project's second train, and we are also starting the work on the third train's GBS,” he revealed.
